Terry Meier

Nicole Pickering
Why Can't She Remember That?
Terry Meier

1. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all children bring to school rich linguistic abilities acquired through social interaction in their homes and communities.
     1) I completely agree with this quote. I do believe that each and every child in a classroom has different backgrounds and abilities and when they bring those abilities to school, other students will most likely learn about them. This could have to do with languages, cultures, rituals, stories, cultural beliefs, etc. Depending on what background this child is from, they could either learn faster or slower than other children. They also could talk more or less than others. Another thing that diverse backgrounds has shown to effect children is how they behave. Students in class could react differently to a teachers' question or statement depending on how they get treated at home.

2. Children who don't have many early book reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interactions with family and other community members, from oral stores, and from other observations of other people's behaviors.
     1) Each child learns differently. Some may learn things slow, some fast, and some at an average pace. Children learn a lot from their family and from seeing people's behaviors around the world. If something happens a lot, children tend not to forget what happened and they then pick up on it and begin to do whatever it was themselves. For example, parents or grandparents usually have a lot of stories to tell. So, when they tell their children or grandchildren these stories and they become interested, they start to learn something. Children are good at having a memory of things. So if someone was telling a story and they had a little dance to go along with it, there will be a greater chance the child will remember the story.

3. If books are not compelling to children, then no amount of time spent on rhyming games, phonemic awareness exercises, or any other kind of literacy activity will result in their becoming proficient and empowered readers.
     1) I completely agree with this statement. It is very important for a child to understand what they are reading. If a child does not know how to read then he/she will not be able to move forward in school. It is very important to have a child connect with the text they are being provided with. If a child is able to make a connection then they understand what is really going on. Children can read books that they can relate to their own lives, a friend's life, a relative's life, etc. You also need to know how to teach reading behaviors explicitly.  I think it is true that more children would be able to participate more in talking about the books if teachers asked open ended questions. Lastly, you have to help make the book come alive. Every person loves to read a good book.


From reading this text I learned a lot. Children really do need the most attention when they are at such a young age. If they are not provided with excitement then they will not want to do anything. They have to learn how to read and write when they are so young and it is not that easy to do when you are not having fun. Children love to have fun and if teachers can make it so learning and fun go together then it will be that much easier for the children to understand and connect to anything that they learn.